B.C. man not guilty after pouring boiling water on roommate in egg dispute

A man was found not guilty of assault after he poured boiling water on his roommate in a dispute over burnt eggs.

Anbo Wang, 44, and Yang, 35, whose first name was not published in court documents, had been living together for nearly a year when on March 13, 2018, the two started arguing over a pot of eggs that Yang left boiling on the stove. The documents did not say where they had been living.

Yang had abandoned the eggs and retreated to his room. Wang later noticed smoke coming from the pot and knocked on Yang’s door. Wang then went outside, while Yang put new eggs on the stove and sat at the kitchen table.

Wang then returned to the kitchen, and this is where the two men’s testimonies differ.

Yang testified that Wang came back in and demanded an apology. Yang said he asked why he would need to do that. He claimed Wang then grabbed the pot from the stove and poured boiling water on him and started hitting the back of his head with it.

Wang, meanwhile, told the court he asked for an apology because the burnt eggs could have started a fire, and that Yang stood up and asked why he should apologize, using explicit language, and then pushed Wang almost into the stove.

In his March 27 decision, B.C. Provincial Court Justice Reginald Harris noted several inconsistencies with Yang’s evidence, such as his testifying in court that Wang threatened to kill him after pouring the water, but not mentioning this in his statement to police.

The judge said he believed Wang meant to protect himself by grabbing the pot when Yang had backed him against the stove, and that his actions were reasonable.